Arms Warrior DPS Guide — Dragonflight 10.2
Welcome to our Arms Warrior guide for World of Warcraft — Dragonflight 10.2. Here, you will learn how to play as an Arms Warrior in both raids and Mythic+ dungeons: from the very beginning to maximizing your DPS.
If you were looking for WotLK Classic content, please refer to our WotLK Classic Arms Warrior guide.
Arms Warrior Overview
Arms Warriors in Dragonflight
Arms Warriors are strong but somewhat slow damage dealers which revolve
around building burst damage windows with Colossus Smash. Their
greatest strength comes in the form of a versatile toolkit, offering Single
Target, close-range cleave, burst AoE, and even a limited form of physical
damage immunity.
Like most classes, the new talent system in Dragonflight has led to a large
number of changes and new options allowing players to allow players to
customize their gameplay. While Arms' primary rotation is very similar to that
of Shadowlands, it has increased emphasis on Execute, and
there are now many more multitarget options than before. Overall, Arms
gameplay is significantly sped up compared to similar points in Shadowlands,
and while the gameplay is not quite as fast as Fury, it is often near-GCD
locked and very engaging.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Very flexible toolkit, able to spec into several damage profiles, ranging from single target, to two-target cleave, sustained multitarget, or Execute phases.
High mobility class due to
Charge,
Intervene, and
Heroic Leap.
Multiple defensive abilities between
Die by the Sword,
Defensive Stance,
Spell Reflection, and
Rallying Cry.
Source of the important attack power buff
Battle Shout.
Downtime significantly penalizes damage potential.
Talent buids are heavily specialized, sacrificing one capability for another.
Mage Tower Challenge
From Patch 9.1.5 onward, both Legion Timewalking and the Mage Tower have returned. As such we have created a separate guide detailing what you can expect from the Mage Tower challenge available to Arms Warriors.
Arms Warrior and Guide Changes for Patch 10.2
There are several changes for Arms Warriors in Patch 10.2, improving the
functionality of Skullsplitter and increasing overall damage
significantly in exchange for no longer allowing
Ignore Pain to be
used offensively.
Rallying Cry has also been nerfed alongside changes
to most other group-wide defensive cooldowns, leaving it still in a
relatively strong place.
- All ability damage increased by 6%.
Slam damage increased by 25%.
Improved Slam Critical Strike damage increase reduced to 10% (was 30%).
Mortal Strike and
Overpower damage increased by 10%.
Skullsplitter and
Tide of Blood now causes Deep Wounds and Rend to bleed out 100% faster for 10 seconds (was expire instantly).
- Rage spent on
Ignore Pain no longer contributes to
Anger Management,
Tactician, and
Test of Might.
Rallying Cry now increases current and maximum health by 10% (was 15%).
Inspiring Presence has been removed.
Leveling an Arms Warrior
If you want to play an Arms Warrior but currently do not have one at max level, you can check out our leveling guide for tips on your journey.
Once you reach the max level, it can be somewhat overwhelming to completely change the way you play by suddenly implementing a large number of addons in a short space of time, especially if they have a heavy visual impact on your UI. We recommend using some of the more basic addons recommended on our Addons page below while leveling so that you have more time to get used to them during the easier phases of playing your class.
Basics of Arms Warrior Gameplay
Arms Warrior is a relatively simple spec based on resource management. As
there are few on-demand Rage generators; most resource generation comes from
auto-attacks, so anticipating them along with the cooldown of important abilities
is important to ensure that you neither find yourself Rage starved and unable to
use Mortal Strike on cooldown or capping and wasting Rage generation
during
Bladestorm.
The rotation has a fair amount of downtime, which means a fair bit of time
will be spent simply waiting. While you could fill empty Global Cooldowns with
Slam or
Whirlwind, doing so constantly can leave you
unable to use
Mortal Strike when you need to. It is very important to
ensure you keep
Mortal Strike on cooldown and maximize spending Rage
during
Colossus Smash rather than outside of it.
If you are an absolute beginner to the spec but would like a refresher on the basic fundamentals of the Warrior class, we recommend looking through the Spell Summary first, as well as the Easy Mode page below.
If you are already somewhat familiar with Warriors, you can head straight to the Talents and Rotation pages to jump right into the more complex, detailed information.
How to Gear Up as an Arms Warrior
Gearing is often a matter of choosing the highest item level piece available, but there are important nuances to consider, especially when it comes to statistical breakpoints and special effects gear. You can find information on how best to gear an Arms Warrior on our dedicated gearing page, which includes the current Best in Slot items from this tier.
Once you have started to gear, you will need to make sure that you have the appropriate consumables, gems, enchants, and more. We have a dedicated page for exactly this, as shown below, as well as the stats page, where you can find more information on the possibility of a changing stat priority and the necessary changes you may need to make for consumables.
End-Game as an Arms Warrior
Starting off as an Arms Warrior can look very different from the absolute end-game raiding and progression as one. Our Mythic+, Torghast, Raiding, and PvP guides can guide you to perform as well as possible, regardless of your focus on end-game content.
Improving as an Arms Warrior
If you are finding your performance lackluster but are not sure where you are going wrong, you can check out the pages below for potential tips or answers to questions you may have.
Viability of Arms Warrior in the Current Patch
Arms has an extremely versatile toolkit, capable of building for single-target damage windows, two-target cleave, sustained damage against multiple targets, and Execute phases. However, its biggest weakness is that it is not particularly effective at doing several of these things at the same time, encouraging you to specialize rather than trying to be a jack of all trades. Defensively, the traditional lack of self-healing is now compensated for through Class talents and Arms also feature several defensive abilities on short cooldowns, making them very strong against constant rot damage, but the lack of immunity or cheat death mechanics leaves them vulnerable to high spikes of damage.
Changelog
- 08 Nov. 2023 (gear page): Updated with new gear sets accounting for Sporecloak nerf.
- 08 Nov. 2023 (rotation page): Correct error hiding low priority filler in Execute rotation.
- 06 Nov. 2023 (WeakAuras page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2
- 06 Nov. 2023 (FAQ page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2
- 06 Nov. 2023 (how to improve page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2
- 06 Nov. 2023 (simulations page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2
- 06 Nov. 2023 (gear page): Updated for Patch 10.2 and Season 3.
- 06 Nov. 2023 (addons page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2
- 06 Nov. 2023 (enchants page): Updated for Patch 10.2.
- 06 Nov. 2023 (stats page): Updated for Patch 10.2.
- 06 Nov. 2023 (mythic+ page): Updated for Patch 10.2 and season 3.
- 06 Nov. 2023 (rotation page): Updated for T31 builds and rotations in preparation for Season 3.
- 06 Nov. 2023 (talents page): Updated talent builds for Patch 10.2 and Season 3 tier sets.
- 06 Nov. 2023 (spells page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2
- 06 Nov. 2023 (easy mode page): Updated for Patch 10.2.
- 06 Nov. 2023 (this page): Updated for Patch 10.2.
- 29 Oct. 2023 (Amirdrassil page): Page added.
- 04 Sep. 2023 (WeakAuras page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (FAQ page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (how to improve page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (simulations page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (gear page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7.
- 04 Sep. 2023 (addons page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (enchants page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (stats page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (mythic+ page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7.
- 04 Sep. 2023 (rotation page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7.
- 04 Sep. 2023 (talents page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7.
- 04 Sep. 2023 (spells page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7.
- 04 Sep. 2023 (easy mode page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7.
- 04 Sep. 2023 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7.
- 12 Jul. 2023 (mythic+ page): Minor formatting updates.
- 12 Jul. 2023 (talents page): Minor formatting updates.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (WeakAuras page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (FAQ page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (how to improve page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (simulations page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (gear page): Updated for Patch 10.1.5, to include Dawn of the Infinite gear.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (addons page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (enchants page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (stats page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (mythic+ page): Updated for Patch 10.1.5, including alternate Skullsplitter build.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (rotation page): Updated for Patch 10.1.5.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (talents page): Minor updates for Patch 10.1.5.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (spells page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (easy mode page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (this page): Updated with no class changes for Patch 10.1.5.
- 01 May 2023 (WeakAuras page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1
- 01 May 2023 (FAQ page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.
- 01 May 2023 (how to improve page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.
- 01 May 2023 (simulations page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.
- 01 May 2023 (gear page): Updated Onyx Annulet gem recommendations.
- 01 May 2023 (enchants page): Updated Onyx Annulet gem recommendations.
- 01 May 2023 (stats page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1
- 01 May 2023 (Vault of the Incarnates page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.
- 01 May 2023 (mythic+ page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1
- 01 May 2023 (rotation page): Updated for Patch 10.0.7 with better default checkboxes.
- 01 May 2023 (talents page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1
- 01 May 2023 (spells page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.
- 01 May 2023 (easy mode page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1
- 01 May 2023 (this page): Updated for Patch 10.0.7.
- 28 Apr. 2023 (Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible page): Page added.
- 22 Mar. 2023 (Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible page): Further tips for later bosses and Mythic difficulty.
- 20 Mar. 2023 (Legendaries): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 20 Mar. 2023 (FAQ page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 20 Mar. 2023 (how to improve page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 20 Mar. 2023 (simulations page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 20 Mar. 2023 (gear page): Updated with Onyx Annulet information for Patch 10.0.7.
- 20 Mar. 2023 (addons page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 20 Mar. 2023 (enchants page): Updated with Onyx Annulet information for Patch 10.0.7.
- 20 Mar. 2023 (Vault of the Incarnates page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 20 Mar. 2023 (spells page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 07 Mar. 2023 (Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible page): Updated with initial builds and basic tips.
- 27 Feb. 2023 (rotation page): Fixed misnaming of Bladestorm.
- 02 Feb. 2023 (gear page): Removed erroneous Fury reference.
- 02 Feb. 2023 (Vault of the Incarnates page): Additional tips and talent builds.
- 02 Feb. 2023 (mythic+ page): Updated Bladestorm talent build.
- 02 Feb. 2023 (rotation page): Updated rotation tool.
- 02 Feb. 2023 (talents page): Updated talent builds.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (WeakAuras page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (FAQ page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (how to improve page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (simulations page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (gear page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (addons page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (enchants page): Updated for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (stats page): Updated for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (Vault of the Incarnates page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (mythic+ page): Updated build for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (rotation page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (talents page): Updated builds for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (spells page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (easy mode page): Talent build updated for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (WeakAuras page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (FAQ page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (how to improve page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (simulations page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (gear page): Updated for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (addons page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (enchants page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (stats page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (Vault of the Incarnates page): Page added.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (mythic+ page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (rotation page): Fix talent selector formatting.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (talents page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (spells page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (easy mode page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (this page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (WeakAuras page): Reviewed for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (FAQ page): Reviewed for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (how to improve page): Reviewed for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (simulations page): Reviewed for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (gear page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (addons page): Reviewed for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (enchants page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (stats page): Reviewed for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (mythic+ page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (rotation page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (talents page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (spells page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (easy mode page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (this page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 18 Nov. 2022 (rotation page): Update Fervor of Battle use and description.
- 18 Nov. 2022 (talents page): Update Fervor of Battle use and description.
- 18 Nov. 2022 (easy mode page): Update Fervor of Battle use and description.
- 09 Nov. 2022 (rotation page): Corrected Overpower's position in the rotation.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (Legendaries): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (Torghast): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (Covenants and Soulbinds): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (WeakAuras page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (FAQ page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (how to improve page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (simulations page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (gear page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (addons page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (enchants page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (stats page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (Castle Nathria page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (Sanctum of Domination page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (Sepulcher of the First Ones page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (mythic+ page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (rotation page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (talents page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (spells page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (easy mode page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (this page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 21 Feb. 2022 (Patch 9.2 Analysis): Page reviewed and approved for Patch 9.2.
- 15 Jan. 2022 (Patch 9.2 Analysis): Page added with initial thoughts and information.
- 01 Nov. 2021 (Patch 9.1 Analysis): Reviewed and approved for Patch 9.1.5.
- 13 Jul. 2021 (Patch 9.1 Analysis): Removed PTR references.
- 19 May 2021 (Patch 9.1 Analysis): Page created with preliminary Patch 9.1 information.
- 12 Oct. 2020 (Ny'alotha page): Page updated for the Shadowlands pre-patch.
- 29 Jul. 2019 (The Eternal Palace page): More tips, no longer recommending Worldvein Resonance.
- 13 Jul. 2019 (The Eternal Palace page): More tips added, especially for Azshara; several Essence recommendations changed.
- 08 Jul. 2019 (The Eternal Palace page): Page added.
- 25 Jun. 2019 (Uldir page): This page has been reviewed for the release of Patch 8.2 and no changes are necessary.
- 25 Jun. 2019 (Battle of Dazar'alor page): This page has been reviewed for the release of Patch 8.2 and no changes are necessary.
- 25 Jun. 2019 (Crucible of Storms page): This page has been reviewed for the release of Patch 8.2 and no changes are necessary.
- 05 Jun. 2019 (Crucible of Storms page): Updated Uu'nat talents.
- 09 May 2019 (Crucible of Storms page): Added additional Mythic difficulty tips.
- 15 Apr. 2019 (Uldir page): This page has been reviewed and no changes are necessary for the release of the Crucible of Storms raid.
- 15 Apr. 2019 (Battle of Dazar'alor page): This page has been reviewed and no changes are necessary for the release of the Crucible of Storms raid.
- 15 Apr. 2019 (Crucible of Storms page): Guide added.
- 12 Mar. 2019 (Battle of Dazar'alor page): Updated tips for Jaina.
- 22 Jan. 2019 (Battle of Dazar'alor page): Added new tips.
- 21 Jan. 2019 (Battle of Dazar'alor page): Guide was created.
- 18 Jan. 2019 (Uldir page): Updated for Season 2.
- 10 Dec. 2018 (Uldir page): Reviewed and up to date for Patch 8.1.
- 04 Sep. 2018 (Uldir page): Updated for Uldir release.
- 13 Aug. 2018 (Uldir page): Page added (empty for now).
More Warrior Guides
Guides from Other Classes
This guide has been written by Archimtiros, Warrior class theorycrafter and SimulationCraft developer who has been writing class guides for more than a decade. You can follow him on Twitter or see more of his day to day work in Skyhold, the Warrior Discord.
- New Love is in the Air Armor Sets in Patch 10.2.5
- Icy Veins Launches Genshin Impact Guides Section
- Dragonflight Season 3 Mythic+ DPS Log Rankings: Week 2
- Full Trading Post Rotation for December 2023
- New Returning Items Tab for Trading Post Items in Patch 10.2.5
- Will Sylvanas Return in Patch 10.2.5?
- Night Elf Paladin NPC Spotted in Patch 10.2.5
- New Trading Post Mount in Patch 10.2.5 - Savage Blue Battle Turtle